24
Heroin Addiction
In and around Cleveland, heroin-related overdoses killed
195 people last year [2013], shattering the previous re-
cord. Some Ohio police chiefs say heroin is easier for kids
to get than beer. In Missouri, admissions to treatment
programs for heroin addiction rose 700 percent in the
past two decades. In Massachusetts, state police say at
least 185 people have died from suspected heroin over-
doses in the state since Nov. 1 [2013], and the governor
has declared a public health emergency.
28
To examine America’s growing heroin abuse problem the Associated
Press conducted an investigation during the spring of 2014. Journalists
queried state health departments, medical examiner offices, and law en-
forcement agencies in twenty-six states
to compile statistics about heroin use,
overdose incidents, and treatment.
Although several states were found to
have few changes, most reported that
heroin has become a significant public
health concern. New Jersey, for exam-
ple, is suffering from a severe heroin
problem that continues to grow worse.
In Camden County, New Jersey, chief
of police Scott Thomson says that
overdose rates have increased 91 per-
cent in the past twenty-four months.
“Because of the demand for heroin,” he
says, “many of the cocaine dealers are trying to broaden their own market
to include heroin, which has spurred gang violence for us. At the rate I am
going this year, I will have more kids from suburbia die on my streets with
a syringe in their arm than inner-city youths dying from gang violence.”
29
Tough Times in Minnesota
Another state that is struggling with an escalating heroin problem is Min-
nesota. The Associated Press investigation revealed that 4,519 people in
the state were treated for heroin abuse in 2013—a
hundred times more
than the 450 heroin abuse cases reported in 1993. In Anoka County,
Although several
states were
found to have
few changes,
most reported
that heroin
has become a
significant public
health concern.
“
”
